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Had Charles Toogood’s family waited a month longer to sail to North America, he might never have seen age three, let alone 103. But they didn’t and it was ultimately the Lusitania, not the ill-fated Titanic, that brought him to Canada from England, via New York, in March 1912.

It’s just one of many great stories shared by the Second World War veteran, who’s among the sharply rising number of centenarians across the country, according to 2011 census data released Tuesday by Statistics Canada.

Last year’s national headcount showed there were 5,825 people in Canada aged 100 or older, a total that’s up by about 1,200 since the 2006 census and by more than 2,000 since 2001.

If there’s a secret to becoming a “super senior,” Toogood seems a good one to ask; the Edmonton man can rattle off names, dates and details of decades-old events as if they occurred yesterday. He happily shares what he believes to be the linchpin to his longevity: the love of a good woman.

“We were married six weeks short of 75 years,” he says of wife Nan, who passed away in 2007. “I give her credit for keeping me going . . . She was a super cook. She was a super everything.”

The five-year growth rate for the very oldest cohort of Canadians was a whopping 25.7 per cent — and forecasts point to a continuous climb in the centenarian population for the next half-century, reaching 78,300 by the time the 1961 crest of the Baby Boom wave reaches age 100 in 2061.

That projected national total would equal the current population of Peterborough, Ont., which also happens to have a higher proportion of senior citizens (19.5 per cent) than any city in Canada, according to the 2011 census.

Notably, about 84 per cent of those reaching the century mark in Canada are women — not a huge surprise given the significantly higher life expectancy among the country’s female population.

Saskatchewan, with 31 centenarians per 100,000 residents, has by far the highest proportion of 100-year-olds in the country — almost double the national average (17.4 per 100,000) and nearly as high as world-leading Japan (36.8 per 100,000), famous for the longevity of its citizenry.

While living to age 100 is tremendous feat, very few centenarians reach 105 — just six per cent of the 5,825 people in Canada’s century club.

“Mortality rates above age 100 are quite high,” states a summary of the census findings. “Among those aged exactly 100” — who account for 40 per cent of all centenarians — only “about 60 per cent will reach the age of 101.”

Donald H. Paterson, research director of the Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging, notes that although absolute numbers of centenarians are increasing, the data suggest “there aren’t a great many more centenarians per capita of older people” than in previous eras.

Furthermore, actually achieving centenarian status remains somewhat of a medical puzzle. For instance, while Toogood eschewed smoking and drinking his entire life, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother — who lived to 101 — was estimated to have consumed five times the recommended weekly amount of alcohol for a woman.

“I think there’s something about the way in which these people see life — a joie de vivre,” says Andrew Wister, chair of gerontology at Simon Fraser University in B.C. “But apart from finding the Elixir of Life, it does seem as though there are a few common factors.”

He says some of these include committing to physical activity throughout life; maintaining a good diet (often a Mediterranean one, characterized by fish, olive oil, veggies and red wine); having a web of social support; and simply coming from good stock.

Indeed, recent research suggests genes only influence our chance of living to 85 by 20 to 30 per cent, but have greatly increased importance when it comes to reaching the years beyond.

John Elock, who turns 100 in July, is a prime example: both his father and grandfather lived to see their late 90s, while his own health remains excellent.

“The secret? No wine, women or song,” says Elock, a resident of the Kipnes Centre for Veterans in Edmonton.

To which his daughter, Judi, promptly adds with a laugh: “But there was rum in there, dad!”

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